Twilight Parody Producers Sue Studios For $500 Million

And here I thought the Twilight Saga films ALREADY were a parody. Even if that’s the case, a separate parody film called Twiharder was scheduled to reach theaters last year when Lionsgate and Summit had Breaking Dawn Part 2on the docket. However, a cease-and-desist order prevented the producers at Behind The Lines from releasing their comedy, and now EW says they're filing a lawsuit to seek damages (and free up the restraints for future projects).

“independent filmmakers, parodists and other ‘counter-cultural’ artists who create separate or derivative works that may be related to, inspired by or comment upon the pop culture events that dominate the national Cineplex and, by extension the attitudes, perspectives and behaviors of the populace.”

The site says that Lionsgate and Summit have registered so many Twilight-related trademarks that it potentially creates an intellectual property monopoly, which the lawsuit would love to break down. And a communications law professor at the University of Georgia tells EW that Behind the Lines has a pretty good chance, because Lionsgate would have a difficult time proving in court that the existence of Twiharder was illegal. Likely, both sides would pour a lot of money into a fruitless court case, giving the studios the advantage because they have deeper pockets for a legal battle.

The team behind Twiharder likely won’t earn that $500 million, but maybe they’ll get their movie released. At the time, they had a trailer put together. Check it out below. Does it make you want to see the movie … eventually?